The end of the Champions League It will be played two rounds ahead of schedule. It may seem like a contradiction, but the two teams, a priori, strongest among the eight that continue to compete in the most important club competition on the planet will meet in the quarterfinals: Manchester Citycurrent champion, and Real Madridthe most successful team in the history of the tournament.
Although sometimes some black Swan manages to sneak in in this instance, the usual thing is to find to eight powers in the draw that traces the final segment of the route to the Champions League title, so there is not much room to aspire to a bed of roses. This time, the hands of the Nigerian John Obi Mikelchampion of this tournament in 2012 with Chelsea and in charge of drawing the balls in the draw that took place this Friday at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, they placed face to face the two teams that the other six preferred to avoid.
Madrid, the comfortable leader of the Spanish League, reached this stage after make cape in their group (they relegated Napoli, Sporting Braga and Unión Berlin) and laboriously left Leipzig on their way in the round of 16. City, who are bidding head-to-head with Liverpool and Arsenal for the Premier League crown, also had a perfect run in an accessible area (with Leipzig, Young Boys and Red Star) and then easily eliminated Copenhagen.
This It will be the fifth time in the last nine editions (and the third consecutive) in which these two teams will face each other in a direct elimination match from the Champions League. In the 2015/16 semi-finals, after drawing 0-0 in Manchester and winning 1-0 at home with a goal against the Brazilian Fernando, the Merengue They advanced to the final, where they then beat Atlético de Madrid on penalties in Milan. And in the 2019/20 round of 16, City won 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu and repeated the result in the rematch at the Etihad Stadium (then they lost in the quarterfinals to Olympique Lyon).
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The Champions League has already defined who will play in the quarterfinals, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
The last two crossings left a strong mark. In the 2021/22 semifinals, the English won 4-3 at home in the first leg, but in retaliation the Spanish won 3-1 in the rematch with a legendary comeback: the visitor won 1-0 until the 45th minute minute of the second period, but two goals from Brazilian Rodrygo sent the game into overtime. In extra time, a goal by Frenchman Karim Benzema, from a penalty, gave the Merengue the ticket to the final in Saint-Denis, in which they would beat Liverpool.
Real Madrid’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti (L) congratulates Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola after the UEFA Champions League second leg semi-final football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on May 17, 2023. Manchester City won the match 4-0. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Revenge, sweet and implacable, did not wait more than a year. In last season’s semi-finals, they drew 1-1 in the Spanish capital and then the team led by Josep Guardiola inflicted a memorable dance and scored four goals against his opponent (one of them, from Julián Álvarez) in retaliation. It was the prelude to the final that would allow the Citizens win this title for the first time after defeating Inter in Istanbul. After two rounds won by each side, lThe balance will be unbalanced with the crossing that will take place in April: The first leg will be played at the Bernabéu on the 9th or 10th, while the revenge will be the following week at the Etihad.
The winner of this ultra-competitive key will then have another first-class opponent, who will emerge from the clash between Arsenalleader of the Premier Leaguey Bayern Munichwho could not keep up with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga (he is 10 points behind the leader) and puts all his chips into winning his seventh European crown.
After winning their groups without a hitch, both had to work hard to get through to the round of 16: The English had to go to the penalty shootout to eliminate Porto; The Germans had to come back at home after losing in the first leg against Lazio in Rome. Now they will meet in a tie that has four antecedents and a clear trend: all four times (in 2005, 2013, 2014 and 2017) they met in the round of 16 and the Germans always emerged victorious. This time, the departure will be in London and the return will be in Munich.
Boosted by Harry Kane’s goals, Bayern Munich is seeking its seventh Champions League title. Photo: Michaela Stache / Reuters.
Far from the lights of yesteryear and with a quiet journey here, Barcelona y Paris Saint-Germain, the two European teams in which Lionel Messi played, will fight for a place in the semifinals (the first leg will be at the Parc des Princes). The Catalans, third in the Spanish League, eliminated Napoli in one of the most attractive matches of the round of 16; The French, marching towards their third consecutive Ligue 1 title (and 10th in 12 years), easily beat Real Sociedad.
If it’s about background, Parisians can boast of having kept the most recent crash: In the round of 16 of the 2020/21 season, they beat 4-1 at the Camp Nou and then tied 1-1 at home – that day, Messi scored his last goal with the Barça shirt in an international tournament. But the Catalans can boast of having emerged victorious in the other four ties against PSG. Surely they will especially remember the round of 16 of the 2016/17 season, when they came back from 0-4 in the first leg with a 6-1 triumph in their stadium.
Diego Simeone’s Atlético de Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund. Photo: Juan Medina / Reuters.
The duel that will complete the quarter-final poker, with a first episode in Spain and its revenge in Germany, will be starred by Atlético de Madrid y Borussia Dortmund, the two teams, a priori, least powerful among the eight that reached this stage. Both teams are far from the fight for the title in the local leagues and have already been eliminated in their countries’ cups, so their last great stimulus of the campaign is in the Champions League.
The group led by Diego Simeone They reached the quarterfinals after overcoming a very adverse series and dispatching Inter, runner-up of the competition and leader of the Italian Serie A, on penalties. For the cast led by Edin Terzic The crossing with the PSV Dutch. Now they will meet face to face for the first time in a direct elimination event in the Champions League (they only played four times in the group stage, with two victories for each).
The four winners of these keys will continue their path in the semifinals, which will take place between April 30 and May 8. The grand final will be played on Saturday, June 1 at Wembley.
The crossroads of the Europa League
Chance also established the duels of the quarterfinals of the Europa League, the competition in which Liverpool emerges as a great candidate to win the crown. The team led by Jürgen Klopp and in which Alexis Mac Allister shines will face Atalanta, one of the three Italian teams still in competition (the first leg will be at Anfield).
The other two representatives of the peninsula, Milan and Roma (runner-up of the last edition), will eliminate each other: the first leg will be at the Giuseppe Meazza, while the cast of Paulo Dybala and Leandro Paredes will be local in the revenge at the Olympic Stadium. From the capital.
In addition, Bayer Leverkusen, the sensation team of this European season (in which they are undefeated in all competitions), will clash with the English West Ham United. And the Benfica of Ángel Di María, Nicolás Otamendi and Benjamín Rollheiser will face Leonardo Balerdi’s Olympique de Marseille in the fourth round of the quarterfinals of a competition whose final will be played on May 22 in Dublin.
Conference League duels
The route to the final of the Conference League, which will be played on May 29 in Athens, was also outlined this Friday in Nyon. The most attractive clash of the quarterfinals will feature Emiliano Martínez’s Aston Villa and French Lille, who will open their series in Birmingham.
In addition, the Fiorentina of Nicolás González, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Lucas Beltrán and Gino Infantino will meet the Czech side Viktoria Plzeň. The Olympiacos-Fenerbahçe and Bruges-PAOK duels will complete the picture.
2024-03-15 17:02:33
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